Saturday, 31 January 2009

The economic crises gives me a great excuse to show you this amazing song from Pain of Salvation. For those of you who don't know this Swedish progressive band, I recommend you to visit their lastfm profileLa crisis económica me da una excusa perfecta para enseñaros este temazo de Pain of Salvation. Para los que no conozcais esta banda sueca de progresivo, os recomiendo visitar su perfil de lastfm.

The lyrics from this song show the main reason of the whole economic crises that we are living: the "high-class" way of living. A excerpt:La letra de esta canción muestra la principal razón de la crisis económica que vivimos: el estilo de vida de la "clase alta". Un fragmento:

"I Could have bought a Third World countryWith the riches that I've spentBut heyAll modern economics claim that I deservedEvery single centAnd the one time I'm the lesser halfIs when we split the tabSo here's to Friends, Family and Liberty, Genuinity, here's toHappiness, Success, Good Press, No Stress...But most of all...

Here's to Me!(...)They claim that I get paid for my big ResponsibilityBut hey, you know...That is just a lame excuseFor my egocentricityThey say that we're really the same you and IAnd I truly do agreeYou seeJust like meYou live for meUntil the day you dieAnd so I raise my glass to all of you who really believe that I getpaid for my big responsibilityTo all of you who suck it up and pay my debtsTo all of you who think that my lifestyle does not affect the environmentOr the povertyWell, maybe not more than marginally anywayGood for you!And you know what?Here's to you...And I raise my glass, to those of you who give their piece of the cakefor free, for me to throw in the face of democracyFor those who help making solidarity ideologically untrendyAnd charity individualistically idiotic, unsmart and characteristically bendyI salute thee you poor bastards 'cause you all nod while I sit at your tableSo let's raise our glasses one last time, to give you all the greatestrecognition and credit of all times - cause after all, let's face it;that's the only "thank you" you will ever getSo come on now - raise your glasses!Here's to YOUThere will be nothing left - no!Nothing left......but money"

People is getting angry against their politicians. They might have a share a fault, it's true, but the main share belongs to the high businessmen and bankers, who have been playing with money all these years, taking too many risks, not giving a damn about anything but getting rich fast. Their wages were so high that their companies are out of money now... they suck it all!La gente se enfada con los políticos. Puede que tengan una parte de culpa, es cierto, pero la mayor parte de la culpa es de los empresarios y banqueros, quienes han estado jugando con el dinero todos estos años, tomando demasiados riesgos, sin preocuparse de nada más que hacerse ricos rápidamente. Sus salarios eran tan altos que sus empresas están sin dinero ahora... ¡porque se lo llevaron todo ellos!

They claimed, as the lyrics say, that they deserved their wages because they are the ones who risk their money... but, when they fail, they ask the governments for help and they get millions from the poor people (via taxes), the same people that is poor because they weren't paying them enough.Decían, como dice la letra, que se merecían sus salarios porque ellos eran los que arriesgaban su dinero... pero, cuando fallan, piden a los gobiernos que les ayuden y reciben millones de los pobres (vía impuestos), la misma gente que es pobre porque no les estaban pagando suficiente.

That's not risky. They are not assuming their fault. Workers have to do their job, and if they do it wrong, they are fired. Managers' task is to make the company go in the right direction. Therefore, if the company is going wrong, they should resign from their jobs.Eso no es arriesgado. No están asumiendo su culpa. Los obreros tienen que hacer su trabajo, y si no lo hacen, los despiden. Los directivos tienen que hacer que la empresa vaya bien. Así que, si la compañía no va bien, deberían dimitir.

But, hey! They don't do that! What they do instead, is fire workers "to save money"... people who are not guilty from the company's health, because that's not their job. Some companies are even firing people when they are not having losses, they are just earning less money. Many people could keep their jobs if their bosses accepted to earn less money... but they don't want to.Pero, ¡eh! ¡No hacen eso! En lugar de eso, lo que hacen es despedir a obreros "para recortar gastos"... gente que no es culpable de la salud de la compañía, porque ese no es su trabajo. Algunas compañías están despidiendo a gente incluso cuando no tienen pérdidas, sino que simplemente ganan menos dinero. Mucha gente podría mantener sus puestos de trabajo si sus jefes aceptaran ganar menos dinero... pero no quieren.

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Some months ago Spanish Basketball National team was accused of being racist because of a silly picture. I already gave my opinion here about how dumb it was that accusation. But it seems some people never have enough.Hace unos meses la selección española de basket fue acusada de racismo por culpa de una foto tonta. Ya di mi opinión aquí sobre lo estúpido de esa acusación. Pero parece que alguna gente nunca tiene suficiente.

Now, a Islamic community in London has accused The Simpsons to be a racist show because of an episode where Homer thinks that a new neighbour of him is a terrorist only because he is a Muslim. So, they claim the show is racist... (more info here).Ahora la comunidad islámica de Londres acusa a Los Simpsons de ser racistas porque en un episodio Homer piensa que un nuevo vecino es un terrorista sólo porque es musulmán. Por eso, dicen que la serie es racista... (más información aquí).

I am sorry to say this, but those guys are STUPID (and I don't say it because they are muslims, I just say it because they are absolutely stupid to think that).Siento decir esto, pero esa gente es ESTÚPIDA (y no lo digo porque sean musulmanes, sino porque es estúpido pensar eso).

OF COURSE Homer is a racist! That's the point! That episode it's made precisely to criticize the people who act like that. Homer thinks that the Muslim guy is a terrorist, but the guy is NOT a terrorist. That's the difference between a racist show and a sarcastic show. It's the same as that episode when he met a homosexual and was afraid that Bart would "get it" too. It's a stupid behaviour, and they show that behaviour to point out how wrong it is.¡CLARO que Homer es un racista! ¡Esa es la idea! Ese episodio está hecho precisamente para criticar a la gente que actúa así. Homer piensa que el musulmán es un terrorista, pero el tío NO lo es. Esa es la diferencia entre una serie racista y una sarcástica. Es igual que aquel episodio en el que conoce a un homosexual y tiene miedo de que Bart "se contagie". Es un comportamiento estúpido, y muestran ese comportamiento estúpido para señalar lo incorrecto que es.

They are helping the Islamic community, you idiots! At least the American associations said they were glad that the show tried to help them... let's hope the British Muslims learn from them.¡Están ayudando a la comunidad islámica, idiotas! Por lo menos las asociaciones americanas dijeron que están contentos de que la serie los ayude... esperemos que los musulmanes británicos aprendan de ellos.

There are three student accommodations offered for Erasmus in Karlstad: Campus Futurum, Rosenborg and Norrstrandgatan (there used to be a forth, Potatisen, but it was closed down a couple of years ago). The first two are dorms and the last one is more like a big house, so I am talking about the first two, because more people is going to go to them... and because I lived there and not in Norrstrand.En Karlstad se ofrecen 3 alojamientos para Erasmus: Campus Futurum, Rosenborg y Norrstrandgatan (había una cuarta, Potatisen, pero la cerraron hace unos años). Los primeros son residencias y la última es más bien una casa grande, por lo que voy a hablar de las dos primeras porque va a ir más gente a ellas... y porque yo viví allí y no en Norrstrand.

CAMPUS FUTURUM(or just Campus)It's a dorm located in the North East of the city, close to the University, and formed by 14 buildings with 9 to 12 rooms in each floor. Individual bathroom, shared kitchen.Es una residencia situada en el Noreste de la ciudad, cerca de la Universidad, y formado por 14 edificios con 9-12 habitaciones en cada piso. Baño individual, cocina compartida.

Good things:

Close to the University. 10 minutes walking and you are there.

Modern buildings.

Awesome rooms: modern, plenty of space (even too much, maybe), really well isolated from the noise (you can have a party in the kitchen and nobody notices it if you close the door).

Really easy to get internet connection: there is a DSL plug in every room, so you just need to call the company that you prefer and tell them to start providing you the connection. I got it in less than 24 hours.

About this blog and Mister Potato

For those who don't know me: I'm the oldest toy that is still being sold. I have a potato body where you can attach funny faces and combine them the way you want.
I've appeared in films (Toy Story, e.g.), I have plenty of different models, I've travelled a lot,...
I like to travel and I was an Erasmus in Sweden, that's the reason of "Herr Potatis", that is my name in Swedish.
This blog is written both in English and Spanish. In the posts, English goes in black, Spanish goes in blue.
Este blog es bilingüe, busca en las entradas el texto en azul para el español.